Wetlands: crucial ecosystem service providers: A contemporary review

Wetlands occupy the transitional interface between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, globally distributed from polar tundra to tropical zones, excluding Antarctica. Water is the primary determinant of wetland environments, influencing their diverse flora and fauna. Classified broadly into types such as peatlands, rivers, mangrove forests, and others, wetlands are renowned for their productivity and biodiversity. They deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and economic benefits, including flood control, water filtration, landscape aesthetics, climate moderation, and cultural enrichment through recreational and heritage activities. Supporting diverse biological communities, wetlands harbor significant concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and plant genetic resources like rice. Their adaptive capacity to environmental change is critical for human communities and wildlife alike, ensuring health, welfare, and safety benefits. Despite their vital role, wetland ecosystem services remain inadequately quantified due to biophysical measurement limitations, highlighting research gaps. Comparable to rainforests and coral reefs in productivity, wetlands provide essential services at no direct cost, including disease regulation, carbon sequestration, and natural resource provisioning. Protecting wetlands safeguards these invaluable services, underpinning their significance in sustaining ecosystems and human well-being. This review aims to elucidate wetland types, ecosystem services, and current research gaps, emphasizing their indispensable role as natural assets.